For your precious love means more to me
Than any love could ever be
For when I wanted you I was so lonely and so blue
For that’s what love will do
Darling, I’m so surprised,
Oh, when I first realized
That you were fooling me
Darling, they say that our love won’t grow
I just want to tell them that they don’t know
For as long as you, long as you are loving me
Our love will grow wider, deeper than any sea
And all the things in the world, in this whole wide world
Is just that you would say that you’d be my girl
whoa, lonely
That’s what love will do
For your precious love means more to me
Than any love could ever be
For when I, I wanted you I was so lonely and so blue
That’s what love will do
Songwriters: Nickolas Ashford / Valerie Simpson
For Your Precious Love lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Regent Music Corporation
“For Your Precious Love” is a song written by Arthur Brooks, Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler, and performed by Jerry Butler and The Impressions in 1958. It was released as a single on Vee-Jay Records and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores and Top 100 charts. The song was ranked #335 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010.
The song has been covered numerous times with many versions reaching the US charts as well, including a new version by Butler himself, who peaked at number 99 on the Hot 100 chart in March 1966.
The 1968 version in South Africa by Durban group, The Flames, reached the top spot on the local charts and has been considered a classic in the country ever since.
Other versions
Garnet Mimms (1963, Hot 100 #26)
Otis Redding covered the song for his album The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads in 1965. It appears at the beginning of the 2006 French thriller Tell No One by Guillaume Canet and on the film’s soundtrack album. The song can also be heard in the 2009 movie Mr. Nobody by Jaco Van Dormael.
Oscar Toney, Jr. (1967, Hot 100 #23)
Jackie Wilson and Count Basie (1968, Hot 100 #49)
Linda Jones as “Your Precious Love” (1972, Hot 100 #74)
The Rolling Stones covered it during their sessions for 1989’s Steel Wheels album. It was never released, but can be heard on YouTube.
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